The Oracle Challenger tennis series will return to the Coachella Valley in 2019, following a successful inaugural pair of Southern Californian events this year, tournament organizers announced Wednesday.
The tournament will be held from Jan. 21-27 at the Newport Beach Tennis Club and from Feb. 25 through March 3 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, which annually hosts the BNP Paribas Open, slated to immediately follow the Oracle series in March.
The series, which began this year with tourneys in Newport Beach and Indian Wells, has since expanded with a September event in Chicago and a tournament in Houston that is currently ongoing through Sunday.
The two male and female players who accumulate the most points from the Newport Beach and Indian Wells events will receive wild cards into their respective singles main draws at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open. But unlike the BNP Paribas tournament, the Oracle Challenger Series is free and open to the public.
“Oracle launched the Challenger Series to help more tennis players compete at a high level here in the United States,” Oracle CEO Mark Hurd said. “We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from players and fans, and Oracle is committed to the series in 2019. Newport Beach and Indian Wells are terrific venues for winter tennis. We’d love to see a big turnout from fans.”